Quiet Time

Scripture: Psalm 139:14 Topic: Everyone Is Beautiful Everyone is beautiful. There is nobody who is not beautiful in one way or the other. "I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."                                                                                                                  Psalm 139:14 Everyone has some beauty about him or her. You should never think that you are not beautiful. God took time to design you, to create your nose just the way it is. Perhaps He made your ears small, and your lips as full as they are. God has not made you a disappointment or a disaster. He does not make such things. If you are short, being short is beautiful. If you are black, being black...

  Scripture : Mark 4: 19 “…..and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” Mark 4 : 19   Lust for anything apart from God’s Word is dangerous. It can ruin your life because you will sacrifice so many things to get what you want. There are Christians who will sacrifice anything to ride in a Mercedes Benz. They will steal, cheat, and lie to own one. Such Believers have a strong desire to have some material possessions, and they will do all they can do to have it. This strong overpowering desire is what God calls lust. But lust is dangerous! It destroys. “ …. Having escaped the CORRUPTION that is in the world through LUST.” 2 Peter 1: 4 Corruption has come into the world through lust. .. The strongest desire in a Christian’s life should be for the will of God to prevail “ ….Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consistenth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Luke 12: 15 There i...

  Scripture : 1 Timothy 1: 19-20   “Holding faith, and A GOOD CONSCIENCE; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 1 Timothy 19-20 A person who does not have a good conscience is a potential backslider. The conscience is the voice of that better component of a human being (whether Christian or non-Christian) . It is the conscience of a man that tries to keep him from doing evil . It is important to have a good and strong conscience (inner voice). You can either have a strong conscience or a weak one. Paul, the great Apostle, said he had a good conscience. He also revealed that he had always maintained a good conscience, even as an unbeliever. I dare say that some unbelievers have better consciences than some Christians. When our consciences become hardened, it is difficult for God to speak to us. I have always tried to have a good...

  Scripture : Isaiah 58: 3   “Wherefore have we FASTED…. Wherefore have we AFFLICTED our soul…” Isaiah 58: 3 As a believer you need to fast, otherwise, your flesh will dominate you and lead you to fleshly sins. To be carnally minded is death. Another reason for fasting is that particular problems can only be solved through fasting, some people have problems that are going to make them backslide. Some of the problems that cause backsliding must be solved through fasting. Jesus told the disciples after they failed to heal an epileptic “ THIS KIND goeth not out but by prayer and FASTING.” Matthew 17: 21 Jesus meant here that not all problems are the same. Some difficult ones can be solved only through fasting. It is no wonder that Christians who do not fast are weighed down by all kinds of problems. …. Fasting is not an option. Jesus said in Matthew 6: 16: “When ye fast….” He didn’t say if you fast. This means He expects us to fast. Fasting has its rewards. In I...

  Scripture : Isaiah 58: 3            “Wherefore have we FASTED…. Wherefore have we AFFLICTED our soul…” Isaiah 58: 3 Fasting keeps the believer from backsliding. In the Bible the word associated with fasting is affliction. The word affliction can be interchanged for fasting. “Be AFFLICTED, and mourn, and weep…” James 4: 9 “Before I was AFFLICTED I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.” Psalm 119: 67 How do you afflict yourself? According to the psalmist, one way you can afflict yourself is by fasting. He said that before he fasted he went astray, but when he fasted, he was able to keep God’s Word and stay on track. Then in Psalm 119: 71, he says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn by statutes.” Do you think that God is saying it is good to have sickness and disease? Affliction in that sense is not sickness. In this context, God is saying that it is good for the Christian to fast. Ano...

Scripture : Proverbs 14: 14  “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways…” Proverbs 14:14   The next symptom of backsliding is stubbornness. A stubborn person is prone to falling away.   “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways…” Proverbs 14: 14 If you know a Christian who does not heed counsel, but will always do what he wants to do despite all advice, you are looking at a potential backslider. “And my people are BENT TO BACKSLIDING from me… Hosea 11: 7 Often I would counsel Christians and find in the end that they are set in their ways. They are bent on doing their own thing. Everybody needs advice. The bible says there is safety in the multitude of counsel. “Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.” Ecclesiastes 4: 13 I remember counseling a young lady not to continue in a certain unhealthy relationship. I asked, “What makes you different from the other girls h...

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10: 12   “….. Let him that THINKETH HE STANDETH take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10: 12   An over confident person is someone who has too much trust in his abilities. It is dangerous to be over-confident as a Christian. Being too confident in your righteousness and in your spirituality is a bad sign.    If you regard yourself of your position in Christ as foolproof, you are in danger of backsliding- especially, if you have had promotion in church, or have been used by God in the past.    When a Christian continues to boast about his strength, Satan hears him and decides to test him. Such a person is a potential backslider.    Where you are over-confident is where you can be the weakest, because you have dropped your guard.    You can also tell a Christian is over-confident by the way he talks about the weaknesses of others. I have heard Christians criticize others as though they could never make the same mi...

Scripture: Genesis 19: 17    “….. Escape for thy life, LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE……. lest thou be consumed.” Genesis 19: 17   In Genesis 19, we can study the testimony of Lot and his wife. Two angels were sent to Lot and his family in Sodom and Gomorrah. There message was simple:    “….. Escape for thy life, LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE……. lest thou be consumed.” Genesis 19: 17   But the bible declares that Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.    Jesus also reminds us of the terrible mistake of Lot’s wife made as she was escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah. She was the only family member of the family who looked back at her past. We can liken this to believers who backslide because they kept looking back at the world and all it had to offer.    As born-again believers, god has delivered all of us from sin, and it is important that we do not look back.    You will go back if you keep looking back. And you will fall if you keep loo...

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15: 33   “Bad company ruins good morals.” I Corinthians 15: 33 (revised standard version)   Experience in the ministry has taught me to take note of any Christian who keeps bad company. It is a very bad symptom, with a very poor prognosis. Bad company will eventually lead you to bad places. When you see a Christian who has bad friends, it is likely he will find his way out of church one-day.    There is a saying: “Birds of the same feather flock together.”    One Ghanaian proverb can be rendered: “show me your friend, and I will show you your character” This means that we can tell the kind of person you are by just looking at the kind of friends you have.    If you are a real believer and you want to remain in Christ, then you need to have good friends. They should be real born-again Christians, who attend a ‘born-again” church. They must believe in the things you believe.   You must go to church together. Your friend...

Scripture: Proverbs 28: 26     “He that trusteth in his own heart is a FOOL.”                                                                                                                                             Proverbs 28: 26    Many Christians do foolish things. They venture i...

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15: 23   “For REBELLION is as [like] the sin of WITCHCRAFT…”                                                                                                                                            1 Samuel 15: 23   Rebellion is the fight against authority. Rebellion often camou...

  Scripture : Proverbs 6: 16, 17  “These six things doth the Lord hate….. a proud look, a LYING TONGUE, and hands that shed innocent blood.” Proverbs 6: 16, 17   Liars are compared to wicked people who shed innocent blood. There are born again Christians who habitually lie through their teeth. They lie to God and to man without batting an eyelid. “Stand your ground then, with TRUTH for your belt" Ephesians 6: 14 (Twentieth Century New Testament) This belt of truth holds the whole armour together. Truth, honesty and sincerity are things that hold your entire Christian life together. Without sincerity your Christian life will disintegrate, and you will backslide.   Are you honest? Are you sincere? When you make a mistake do you admit easily? Are you truthful to yourself and to God? I tell you, there are many people who lie to themselves continually and tell themselves, “I am okay”, and when they know they are not. Do not deceive yourself! Be honest and si...

  Scripture : Proverbs 1: 10  “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Proverbs 1: 10  Many of the Christians who walk out of church and backslide have often been living in sin. Although they were in church, some of them are used to committing fornication, adultery, stealing and many other sins. These are the church members who easily become annoyed with their pastors for preaching about their evil deeds. They do not want certain portions of scriptures to be referred to. They feel uncomfortable when certain subjects are preached in church. They also have hard-hitting, Holy Ghost inspired messages that lay bare the realities of righteous living. …such Christians can easily leave church to avoid confrontations of God’s word, instead of admitting their sins and repenting. When a believer sins and acknowledge his mistake, he is on his way to being healed. Address the sin in your life. Correct the mistakes. Deal with every evil thought and habit. This wi...

  Scripture : Hebrews 12: 15    “….lest any root of bitterness springing up TROUBLE you…” Hebrews 12: 15 Many people who walk out of a church are offended Christians who became bitter. They were probably genuinely offended, but their wounds never healed. …. The Holy Spirit showed me how many Christians and pastors allow their hurts to degenerate into unhealed, gangrenous wounds of the heart. They separate themselves from other Christians in the name of being cautious and not wanting to be hurt all over again . This separation eventually leads to total isolation from the body of Christ- and backsliding. Married couples also backslide in their relationships towards each other. They start out hot, strong, fiery love, which is often blind and unseeing. However, many couples after several years of marriage either just co-exist or even hate each other. How did they backslide from love to hatred? Often the hurts and offences of marriage are never fully resolved until...

  Scripture : 2 Timothy 4: 10  “For Demas hath forsaken me, having LOVED this present world …..” 2 Timothy 4: 10   Demas loved the world. That is why de deserted Paul. Of you lobe somebody, you will always gravitate towards that person. This explains why young ladies will leave their loving parents and marry virtual strangers. Love or lust is one of the reasons for that gravitational pull. If you love the world- its money, its women, its men, its glitter- you will find yourself gravitating towards these things. It is therefore important that the Christian should not have any strange love in their heart. There are many Christian ladies who have such strong desires to marry that they will sacrifice all principles and all the rules in order to get married. To lust after something is to have a strong, excessive desire for something. Usually it is uncontrollable, sometimes obsessive desire for a particular thing. One dictionary calls “lust” an animal desire. Be war...

  Scripture : 1 Corinthians 13: 1   “….. I am no better than ECHOING bronze …” Luke 8: 13 There are many Christians who are empty. There is nothing in them. I call them ‘airy Christians”. They have little or no Word in them, neither are they full of the Holy Spirit or of love. They may speak in tongues, but the Bible says whenever they do so, they are just making a lot of noise. Emptiness will attract other things to fill that empty space. A spiritual vacuum will be filled with spiritual things, either positively or negatively. Nature abhors a vacuum, and every space will be filled. “And when he [an evil spirit] cometh, he findeth it UNOCCUPIED…..” Luke 11: 25 (Goodspeed Translation) Empty Christians are targets for the enemy. The devil will try and fill you with evil and backsliding tendencies because of the emptiness within you “…..and they chose Stephen, a man FULL of faith and of the Holy Ghost….” Acts 6: 5 As you can see, Stephen was full of something ...

  Scripture : Luke 8: 13     “.. And these have NO ROOT, which for a while believe…” Luke 8: 13 The parable of the Sower gives various reasons why some of the seeds could not grow. Some seeds could not grow because they fell on rocky soil. Jesus explained that these are the ones who received the word of God with Joy, even believing for a while. But in the time of testing, they fall away because they have no roots. A time of testing will come for every Christian. If you are shallow, in the time of testing, you will fall. Through experience, I have noticed that many Christians do not have deep roots. They do not know God for themselves. They cannot even explain why they do the things they do. They don’t know why they belong to a particular church. They do not know why they speak in tongues. They do not know even why they give offerings. They face little criticism, they get confused and have no defense. Having no personal experience with God, these are the p...

  Scripture : Proverbs 26: 11     “ As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly” Proverbs 26: 11 Description 8: Eating your own vomit   .. God knows how difficult it is for us to eat things we do not like. For most of us, there are things we just wouldn’t eat, even if we are starving. For example, your own vomit. I recall a particular day when I saw a dog in the house vomiting some disgusting, pudding-like substance. It was so smelly that I avoided that area of the house. About an hour later, I passed by and I was very shocked to find the dog eagerly lapping up the pudding of vomit . How utterly disgusting! I wondered why the dog was eating it. Was there no other food? Some of you must have seen this phenomenon before. Well, that is exactly what you look like when you go back to old ways, old boyfriends, old girlfriends and old habits that you once vomited out. God is utterly surprised at you. This reminds us of the prodigal s...

Scripture : Jeremiah 3: 1    “.. thou hast PLAYED THE HARLOT with many lovers ….” Jeremiah 3: 1 Description 7: A lover playing the Harlot God compares the backslider to a woman who is married to the man of her dreams but then decides to go after other men. She jumps over the wall at night, leaves her dear beloved, charming prince in bed, and goes hunting for “ fresh blood”. I know that many people find the profession of prostitution horrifying and repulsive. They cannot imagine how people can abuse their bodies for a living. I remember a lovely woman who had a respectable husband. After some years of marriage, this lady began to have affairs with other men. She would climb over the wall and run away at night when her noble husband was asleep. Can you imagine that?! But let me ask you something else. If your wife not only left you but went into the streets to become a prostitute, would that not even be worse? How would it feel like to pass by the ‘ red light’ dist...

Scripture : Jeremiah 2:32    “ Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a BRIDE her ATTIRE....” Jeremiah 2: 32   Description 6: A bride who forgets Her WEDDING GOWN Many brides are in love with their wedding gowns. Before the wedding day, they hang in their wardrobes to ensure that they don’t get stained. Often, the gown is prepared in advance for the great day (and some gowns cost more than a year’s salary!). The bride’s gown is worn for only a few hours, but the bride spares no expense when she is buying it. Many women are thrilled to be the bride- the star of the day, the most beautiful woman of the day, the princess of the moment. She walks down the aisle in splendor! God is saying that when you go away from Christ, you are like a bride who forgets to wear her wedding gown on her wedding day . .. This is why God is so horrified when Christians forget their God and backslide. It is simply implausible, inconceivable, and beyond belief. The Bible maintains that ...